Paterno to Speak at National Football Foundation

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. -- Penn Stateâ€™s Hall of Fame coach, Joe Paterno, will be the featured speaker in April at the 10th Anniversary banquet honoring the athletic and academic achievements of high school football players in Central Pennsylvania.

The annual banquet is sponsored by the Central Pennsylvania Chapter of the National Football Foundation and College Football Hall of Fame. This yearâ€™s event is set for 12:30 p.m. on Sunday, April 1 at the Penn Stater Conference Center Hotel on the University Park campus.

Thirty-six scholastic student-athletes and three collegiate athletes will be honored at the banquet, with ten student-athletes receiving a $1,000 scholarship towards their college education.

Since initiating the awards banquet in 1997-98, the Central Pennsylvania Chapter has given a total of $85,000 to deserving student-athletes from many of the high schools located in the following area counties: Blair, Cambria, Centre, Clearfield, Clinton, Huntingdon, Jefferson, Juniata, Lycoming, and Mifflin.

â€œWe are honored to have Coach Joe Paterno speak to our student-athletes at our chapterâ€™s anniversary banquet,â€ said Jack Bailey, president of the Central Pennsylvania Chapter. â€œWhen we started giving out scholarships ten years ago, we did not realize how much of an influence we would have on the lives of these young athletes. Coach Paterno not only honors us by his appearance but he also honors all the young men singled out at our banquet over the years.â€

Paterno, who is starting his 42nd year as head of the Nittany Lions, was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame last year. His formal induction into the Hall was postponed until this December after he suffered a serious leg injury during a game against Wisconsin in November. Despite his injures, Paterno was able to coach the Nittany Lions to a 20-10 victory over Tennessee in the 2007 Outback Bowl on January 1. The win further enhanced the record he already held as the coach with the most bowl victories in history, a mark that now stands at 22-10-1 (68.2 percent), including a 16-6 mark in New Yearâ€™s bowl games.

With a career coaching record at Penn State of 363-121-3 (74.8 percent), Paterno is second in all-time victories among major college coaches and fourth in wins across all four NCAA divisions. Paterno led Penn State to national championships in 1982 and '86 and he has had five unbeaten and untied seasons (1968, '69, '73, '86, '94). He was selected the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) National Coach of the Year for an unprecedented fifth time in 2005 after leading Penn State to an 11-1 record and the Big Ten and FedEx Orange Bowl titles.

A 1950 graduate of Brown University, Paterno joined the Penn State staff of Rip Engle in 1950 and succeeded his one-time Brown mentor in 1966. Paterno has produced more than 300 NFL players, 73 first team All-Americans, 35 ESPN The Magazine Academic All-Americans (26 first team), 15 National Football Foundation Hall of Fame Scholar Athletes and 18 NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship winners during his legendary career.

Tickets for the Central PA Chapter of the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame Awards Banquet are $25.00 each and $250.00 for a table of ten. Anyone interested in purchasing tickets should contact Bill Nichol at 814-238-2127.

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